30/08/10 Filed in: Fall
Fall Colours: ISO 400, 90mm, f/4.5, 1/640
Warm Fire: ISO 400, 90mm, f/5.6, 1/100
End of August already. Our not so hot summer is coming to a quick end it seems. I know the end is near when these flowers bloom in our garden. Nature's way of saying I need to dig up the potatoes.
28/08/10 Filed in: Summer
Zinnia and Mosquito Bokeh: ISO 400, 90mm, f/5.6, 1/500
Click on Image (Or Here) to see larger size.
Zinnia and Spider: ISO 400, 90mm, f/5.6, 1/125
Zinnia Close Up: ISO 400, 90mm, f/6.3, 1/100
Three shots of Zinnias. Took these during the golden hours just before sunset in our backyard.
I just want to make a point about backgrounds. The first two images are using natural backgrounds.
The Zinnia and Mosquito was shooting into the shadows of our potato and sunflower plants. The background is very undistacting and does not take away from the main subject.
The second one has our worn out picnic table as a background. The white background takes away from the flower by providing no real contrast. Then there is the edge where it cuts across the stem of the flower. The black along the bottom does provide nice contrast for the leaves of the plant. I could have easily moved the picnic table to get rid of the background but sometimes backgrounds can't be moved (ie: a House). I could have moved to the other side of the flower but I would have our deck as the background(Which can't be moved).
The last picture is the same flower as the Zinnia and Spider. I brought out my black Foam Board/ Foamcore to use as a backdrop. Like the first image, the background in undistracting and does not take away from the main subject.
18/08/10 Filed in: Summer
Mosquito on Ninebark Leaf: ISO 400, 90mm, f/8. 1/250
These little guys are in huge numbers this year. The amount of rain we got this summer is above average which provides the mosquito plenty of breeding grounds.
17/08/10 Filed in: Summer
Solar Seekers: ISO 80, 6.2mm, f/2.8, 1/500
Just like my previous post this was taken with a point and shoot compact camera set in Macro Mode. The camera did provide quite a nice bokeh effect in the distant tree.
I did some post processing work using Tiffen Dfx Software. Used a Warm Polarizer setting to deepen the blue sky.
16/08/10 Filed in: Summer
On Top Dragonfly: ISO 125, 6.2mm, f/2.8, 1/250
Dragonfly and Rose Leaves: ISO 125, 6.2mm, F/2.8, 1/500
Up Close Dragonfly: ISO 80, 6.2mm, f/2.8, 1/1250
Angela and I were preparing our supper on the Barbeque when I noticed this dragonfly flying around our one rosebush. Angela just happenned to have her Point and Shoot Compact camera outside because she was taking pictures of our cats.
I set her camera to macro mode and played around. If I had gone inside the house to grab my camera I probably would have lost track of this little guy.
Point and Shoots are great for macro photography. The small sensors capture the details nicely. For me the drawbacks are the camera chooses the settings and only shoots JPEGs.
Angela's camera does allow manual settings but by the time you change everything the shot is gone. When you set Angela's camera to Macro mode it fixes the Aperture to f/2.8 and the camera's processor figures out everything else.
When I shoot with my DSLR my cameras are set up to shoot in RAW instead of JPEG. RAW means that the camera has done very little processing work. When I import the RAW image to my computer it allows me to do the processing work as I would like to see it. If I do that too much to a JPEG you will notice image quality will decrease.
The very top shot you can see camera noise in the dragonfly's body and the rose leaves. I adjusted the exposure to bring out the details in the dragonfly as he was pretty dark in the original shot. With RAW I could have brought out more detail and colour without so much noise. However, if I used my camera I might not have gotten any of these shots at all.
To me Photography is all about catching the moment. You can only catch these moments with the camera you have with you.
12/08/10 Filed in: Summer
Poppies and Seed Head: ISO 200, 90mm, f/4, 1/90
Summer is coming to an end. Poppies are getting ready to spread their colour next year!
11/08/10 Filed in: Summer
Shovel at Sunrise: ISO 400, 50mm, f/6.3, 1/30
Took this a couple of mornings ago. Sun was over the horizon and breaking through our neighbour's trees.
This is a Virginia Creeper surrounding a shovel. We have been using the shovel to dig up fresh potatoes.
09/08/10 Filed in: Summer
3D Daisy: ISO 200, 90mm, f/5.6, 1/1000
Some things come easy. Flowers lined up perfectly in their planter with no help from me.
Seen it, took it!
05/08/10 Filed in: Summer
Moth and Mosquito: ISO 200, 90mm, f/8, 1/125
Moth on Spirea Flower: ISO 200, 90mm, f/8, 1/125
These images were taken the same day as the previous post. The sky was overcast which allows to camera to be able to get a more accurate reading on the colours. The highlights will not be blown out while trying to get detail in the shadows. To make a long explanation short; the best time to take pictures is on a overcast day when the sun isn't shining so bright.
I mentioned to my wife, Angela, last week that our flower gardens do not seem to attract butterflies. Then this week along comes this moth. I have not been able to identify it's name but there are a few of them in our garden.
The top picture you can make out a mosquito hanging out in the top right of the same flower the moth is on. The bottom macro shot looks much better when enlarged (Click Here to See it). The details are much clearer, especially the antenna. If you click on either picture it will take you to my Flickr set where more images of this moth can be found.
03/08/10 Filed in: Summer
Bee Still: ISO 200, 90mm, f/8, 1/60
Took a walk around our garden yesterday. The sky was pretty overcast with the odd break of sun shining through.
I came across this bee and she was pretty still except for once and awhile one of her legs would rise above her head. I think she was was waving at me to make sure I noticed and got some shots of her.